The Grey Bruce Public Health Unit. (Matt Hermiz/Bayshore Broadcasting)
Appointees to Grey Bruce’s Board of Health will have their skills and attributes measured moving forward.
Jim Pine and Dr. Eileen de Villa, special advisers to Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore, issued a statement Monday morning saying Bruce and Grey counties recently came to an agreement on a skills matrix to support a “newly reconstituted Board of Health.”
Moore also endorsed the matrix, which identifies “sixteen unique skills that members would collectively bring” to the Board of Health.
“No one member is expected to possess all sixteen skills, but a board where all sixteen are present is strengthened,” the statement from Pine and de Villa says.
The province’s Chief Medical Officer assumed powers of Grey Bruce’s Board of Health back in August, due to “serious concerns with the board’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities, including issues related to governance, leadership, financial management and human resources.” He then appointed Pine as his special adviser with regards to Grey Bruce Public Health.
The Ministry of Health identified concerns with Grey Bruce’s Board of Health through an independent assessment conducted under the Health Protection and Promotion Act. An assessment report exists with details about the Ministry’s review of Grey Bruce Public Health’s board, but it has not been made public.
Bayshore News also previously reported on alleged interactions between Board of Health members that resulted in a separate third-party investigation into a potential violation of Grey Bruce Public Health’s discrimination and harassment policy. The findings of that investigation have not been made public either.
Bruce and Grey counties met back on Nov. 27 to discuss governance issues at the health unit. The statement from the Chief Medical Officer’s special advisers says that meeting resulted in the acceptance of the new skills matrix for board members.
“The skills matrix is a critical first step toward developing a comprehensive action plan to address findings from the independent assessment,” the prepared statement from Pine and de Villa says. “We want to express our sincere gratitude to Wardens (Andrea) Matrosovs and (Luke) Charbonneau, their councils, and their senior administrative staff for their hard work. We also want to thank members of the furloughed board for their thoughtful input.”
Moore also accepted an action plan to address other concerns identified through the independent assessment. But the release from the special advisers does not provide any details about what is included in the action plan, and what specific concerns it addresses.
“We look forward to sharing this with you in the new year,” the statement from Pine and de Villa says.
Some recent decisions requiring Grey Bruce Board of Health approval have been executed by Moore’s special advisers, the release notes. Those include the approval of a new five-year term with the health unit’s existing banking provider, RBC, and a new collective agreement with OPSEU Local 276.